All clear

The trail for running, that is! Sunday was 20-something degrees and sunny and gorgeous, so I snagged a naptime run. First time on the trails since November! It was so lovely. Pretty slow in the heat, but so nice to get out.

33 minutes = 5.6 km

I bailed on my last scheduled frisbee game because I'm feeling slow and want to avoid any pelvic trauma that might limit the types of exercises I can do as I progress. I'm hoping to be able to keep running throughout.

Let's do this again!

I kind of left this hanging three years back... In a nutshell: I had to wait five more days for the arrival of young Timothy. I didn't go back to the gym during that time; just walked and walked and walked. Tim arrived quickly, easily (by which I mean uncomplicatedly), and healthily. He remains the healthiest kid I know. (Also the tallest and best climber.) He likes to work out too.

Now, we're expecting again. I'm not in as good a shape as last time -- parenthood kind of cuts into your leisure time -- but I've continued to lift a little weight, jog 5-7 km somewhat regularly, and play frisbee. (Last game of the winter season was last week: ie: 13 weeks pg.)

My goal is to maintain as best I can by doing a workout at least three times a week (like last time), and trying to stay active on other days. Having a three-year-old helps with that last one.

So. Here was my first workout at 15 weeks:

A circuit. Five rounds of:

Row 2:20 min (about 500 m)
10 deadlifts (105 lbs) (I whipped through these, lots of grunting!)
5/arm single-arm db presses (25 lbs)
= 28 minutes

I'll also do a weigh-in, to track my pregnancy weight gain. Because that's so much fun! Weigh-ins will coincide with Dr. visits, because I don't have a scale, or a gym!

Baseline (December 13 - 1 day pregnant) = 135 lb
January 16 (10 weeks) = 136 lb

And, I'm a little behind on my check-ups, so I'm in suspense as to how much I've gone up. But I'm about a month ahead of where I was last time in terms of "showing" -- although only 3.5 months, I am very obviously preggo. This is gonna get messy...

Update -- down to walking

I haven't gone to the gym this week. Instead, I've been trying to go for a walk each day -- a couple of kilometres at least. I was pretty exhausted for a couple days after last Sunday... Maybe because of overdoing it, or maybe just because I'm at that stage (ie: overdue!) Anyway, Ken and my mom have discouraged me from going to the gym because they don't want to put up with me all tired and cranky. I'm okay with that.

So, walking it is. (Though I jogged the three blocks home from the kids' school yesterday. Just in case it would help, you know, move things along. It actually felt pretty good -- despite the fact that I was wearing boots and jeans. I didn't really get winded at all, but I did get a nice contraction out of it. Which led to nothing more... Sigh.)

Hi! Still here.

Tomorrow is D-Day. Now I'm just trying to jostle the baby loose:

Walking - 3/4 mile at 3.2-3.5 mph/10% grade (13:45 min)
Squats - 25 lb x 20, 20, 20, 20
Incline chest press - 20 lb dbs x 20, 15, 12 (wow those dropped off fast!)
Seated rows - 75 x 10
Bent-over rows - 20 lb dbs x 18, 18 (per arm)
Bench dips (feet on floor) - 15

I had to sub in the bent-over rows for the seated ones because the gym was so damn busy. Either because it was a rainy day or because the recent spring-like weather has made folks start thinking about their beach bodies...

Also - lots of energy today! Must be the daily hour-long naps I've been enjoying. I was able to walk further and faster on the treadmill than I have in a long, long time. When Paradise City come on the shuffle, I quelled the urge to start jogging, barely resisted indulging in some air guitar and settled for upping the speed to 3.5 mph, which I was able to maintain for the whole song. No cramping or excessive contractions. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, in terms of coaxing the baby out.

Weigh-in - Still just this side of 160.

A little more than going through the motions

In the interest of efficiency (and energy conservation, as I had a hair appointment in the afternoon and wouldn't get a nap), I decided to skip the cardio portion of my workout today. Instead, I walked as briskly as possible on the way to the gym and back. I kinda got out of breath.

So, just weight-type stuff:

Presses (modified*) - 35 x 14, 14, 14
Presses - 50 x 9 (Just one set, to make sure I still can. :-)
Step-ups - 20/leg x 3 sets
Lat pulls (chin-up grip, slow) - 85 x 9, 9, 9
Calf raises (single leg) - 10, 10, 10

* Wide grip on the bar, very slow up and down, alternatively lowering the bar behind my head and in front.

It was a small-ish workout as these things go, but I tried to make the most of it by doing the reps really slow and deliberately. I found the step-ups to be pretty hard - cardio-wise, a full set of 40 felt something like running a 400 m. (Ok, maybe a 400 m at 80%.)

Kind of a small workout, but enough for today. It's late in the afternoon, and I SO need a nap!

Gettin while the gettin's good

First time in a while that I've managed a weekend workout. I drove again to the gym, to save some energy for housework and grocery shopping later in the day. Walking's fine and tires me out, but doesn't exactly get my heart rate up... So I opted for the more vigorous form of exercise.

Rowing - 2000 m / 10:12 min (2:33/500m pace)
Squats - 25 lb x 25, 25, 25 (not exactly bodyweight, but I just couldn't resist)
Inclined push-ups (hands on bench, feet on floor) - 15, 14, 13
Lat pulls - 82.5 lb x 12, 11, 10 (nice, slow eccentrics)

I cycled through the weight sets as I usually do, but did have to rest for a bit (30 - 60 s) between each exercise (not just each round!) because each set was really getting my heart rate up there! It all felt good, and I wasn't too tired after. (Though I did have a wee afternoon nap later.)

Seriously? Another workout?

It's starting to look like I'll be posting into week 39... Sigh.

My workout today was lighter than it appears -- I drove to the gym, instead of walking like I usually do. I happen to have a car to today, and I have some shopping to do this afternoon, so I figured I'd save some energy for that.

At the gym:

Walking - 1/2 mile, 3 mph/10% grade (10 min)

Shoulder press - 20 lb DBs x 12, 10, 10
Bent-over rows (per arm) - 17.5 x 18; 20 x 15, 15
Step-ups - 20/leg x 4 sets (4" lower step than usual; gym equipment issue)

Press finishers - 40 lb barbell x 16

The weight I used for the rows felt pretty light -- as indicated by the high reps -- but I didn't want to go higher because of the strain it would put on my abs, which are currently on vacation. As it was, the weight I used felt good: the position was comfortable and I didn't have to strain at all, and I got a decent-enough burn from the reps.

I considered finishing up with a session of rowing, but kind of didn't feel like it. And maybe I'm at a point where it's just okay to not feel like pushing it. Right?

Weigh-in: 159! Maybe I'll hit 160 in my final week. (Please let it be my final week.) Or maybe I'll be back to 155 by Monday. It's all very mysterious.